ESL Studies Certificate

The certificate in English as a Second Language Studies aims to improve the preparation of instructors in junior colleges, colleges, and private schools. This certificate differs from the College of Education's Add-On ESOL Endorsement for state certified public school teachers, although it covers two of the five required courses for an Add-On ESOL Endorsement. (Add-On means this endorsement can be added to an existing teaching certificate from the State of Florida). Our approach is to increase students’ linguistic knowledge in general and that of English in particular, so that they may better appreciate the structure of English and that of the first language(s) of their students.

The Certificate in English as a Second Language Studies may be awarded in conjunction with an academic major at the graduate and undergraduate levels, or to students holding a BA or higher degree. This certificate shows a student’s concentration in ESL studies. All courses taken in the curriculum may be applied toward other general and specific graduation requirements. ESL courses in our curriculum which were taken to fulfill other requirements at FAU may be applied to the certificate. All courses counting toward the certificate must be completed with a grade of B- or better and with an over-all average of B.

The following list of 15 credit hours comprises the required core courses. One equivalent three-credit course may be transferred from another accredited institution or program with the advice and consent of the Director.

Prerequisites: None. However, FOL 3880 Research and Bibliographic Methods (3 credits) is strongly recommended for students who have not had such a course.

Required courses: Five courses (15 credit hours) from the following:

LIN 3010 Introduction to Linguistics or LIN 4680 Structure of English

TSL 4251/6252 Applied Linguistics and TESOL

TSL 5345 Methods of Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL) and Bilingual Education or FLE 5892 Foreign Language Teaching Practicum

LIN 4620/6622 Bilingualism or LIN 4600/6601 Sociolinguistics

LIN 6720 Second Language Acquisition or LIN 4905 equivalent

For more information visit our website at www.fau.edu/ESL or contact the director of the program, Dr. Prisca Augustyn (augustyn@fau.edu). For the Department of Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature and the linguistics program visit www.fau.edu/LLCL.

The PAR program provides conditional admission for academically qualified international students who need access to English language and other academic and social preparation for success in a U.S. university setting. PAR students will be fully integrated into the Florida Atlantic University community and learn English, hone study habits and absorb cultural nuances that will lead to success in their studies at FAU.